� Looking after an infant is often a challenge for both parents.

� It is increasingly recognised that postnatal depression and other perinatal mental illnesses and disorders can be experienced by men as well as women.

� Becoming a father and experiencing fatherhood can be a stressful and isolating experience.

� It is quite possible that the increased pressures of fatherhood which mean little sleep, extra responsibilities, greater financial challenges, changes in relationships and lifestyles will all affect the father’s mental health.

� Research has shown that one in 10 new fathers suffer from postnatal depression, very similar to the figure for new mothers.

� When fathers are depressed, they tend to express their emotions differently to that of the mother.

� They appear to be less able to cry but are more likely to externalise their feelings by displaying aggressive behaviour or irritation with their partner leading to misinterpretation of their actual depression, further compounding the father’s inability to seek help and increasing the risk of suicide, and post traumatic stress disorders.

� The traumatic event keeps coming to mind most times in the form of flashbacks and nightmares.

� Fathers have often expressed fears about their partner or wife giving birth again because the last pregnancy was traumatic.


The way forward include;

❇️ Greater access to support for both dads and dads-to-be, individually and as couples in developing communication skills and other relevant tools which will help them throughout the challenges of the perinatal period.

❇️ More dads-only support groups enabling dads-to-be and new dads to seek out and find the support networks that they need in order to share their worries and concerns.

❇️ Mental health services which concentrate on fathers’ emotional needs and ways of managing anger and distress to help fathers understand and express what they are feeling and to promote other, more positive, ways of coping.

It is time to change the narrative.

Read my thread for more dad related contents and resources. Feel free to comment

https://www.nairaland.com/6892054/dad-series-nursekhapie

And join me for the Dad Series with NurseKhaphie talks on clubhouse every Wednesday 8:00pm West African time.

https:///eTc37kc5

I remain your favorite nurse

#NurseKhaphie

“ when I leave this world, I hope to have emptied myself and be a blessing to my generation and the world at large”.